It's been exactly a year since Seattle went into lockdown and we put out our first roundup of virtual events (remember those daily Ben Gibbard concerts? Those were nice), and our concept of time has grown more and more distorted by the week, which is made even more apparent by the inexplicably brutal sleep-snatcher that is Daylight Savings. On the bright side, your stimulus check is almost here, vaccine eligibility is ramping up, and spring officially starts this Saturday, making this week a perfect time to chill at home in anticipation of better days ahead. We've rounded up our picks for the best online events below to keep you entertained in your abode, from Seattle Symphony's Celebrate Asia Past Event Like List concert to the By Design Festival Past Event Like List , and from a reading with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen Past Event Like List to Seattle Center's French Fest Past Event Like List . Plus, check out our guide to in-person things to do in Seattle. 

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MONDAY

COMMUNITY

Native Plants 101: Pollinator Pathways Past Event Like List
Learn how to make your garden as pollinator-friendly as possible while gleaning some facts about the challenges bees and other essential critters experience in the city.

MUSIC

Stephanie Anne Johnson's Pacific Northwest Guitarist Spotlight: Episode #3: Rod Cook Past Event Like List
Tacoma R&B/soul singer-songwriter Stephanie Anne Johnson will put you in that down-home Americana mood with a night of virtual tunes with Seattle guitarist Rod Cook.

READINGS & TALKS

Maira Kalman Past Event Like List
The renowned illustrator will present her new book, an illustrated edition of Gertrude Stein's The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. 

Viet Thanh Nguyen Past Event Like List
If you loved Vietnamese writer Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Sympathizer, don't miss him in this online reading of its sequel, the highly anticipated The Committed. Press materials assure you that "you needn’t read its predecessor to know where you are, our unnamed protagonist having made it out of U.S. predicaments and over to Paris, where he faces yet more."

VISUAL ART

Glazer's Live: The Art of Visual Storytelling with Ami Vitale Past Event Like List
Glazer's Camera will welcome National Geographic photographer, filmmaker, writer, and explorer Ami Vitale to their virtual stage to talk about how she used photography to document her experience living in 100 different countries, some of which were active war zones.

TUESDAY

READINGS & TALKS

Burying the Holocaust in the Pages of The New York Times Past Event Like List
During World War II, The New York Times published over 1,800 stories about what was happening to the victims of Nazi persecution in Europe, but many of those stories were buried, leaving American readers who relied on the paper as their sole news source without much knowledge of the genocide that was happening across the world. Northeastern University journalism professor Laurel Leff, the author of Buried by The Times: The Holocaust and America’s Most Important Newspaper will discuss why the Times made that decision.

Virtual Author Talk: Spicebox Kitchen by Linda Shuie Past Event Like List
Chef and doctor Linda Shuie, MD, will chat about her debut cookbook Spicebox Kitchen, which contains health-minded and globally inspired recipes, with James Beard Award-winning chef and author Bryant Terry. She'll also demonstrate her recipe for orange-spiced pepitas.

READINGS & TALKS

Michelle Nijhuis and Pam Houston discuss 'Beloved Beasts' Past Event Like List
Acclaimed science journalist Michelle Nijhuis and author Pam Houston (Contents May Have Shifted) will talk about the history of the modern conservation movement, told through some of the lives and ideas of the people who built it, using insights from Nijhuis's Beloved Beasts.

WEDNESDAY

COMMUNITY

Virtual Event: Feats of Filmmaking (National Geographic Live) Past Event Like List
National Geographic explorers and filmmakers Bryan Smith and Keith Ladzinski will share footage from the frozen waters of Niagara Falls to alligator swimming holes in this Benaroya Hall broadcast. 

What's Wrong With My Houseplant? Past Event Like List
Not sure why all your plants are dying and/or turning non-green colors? Tassy de Give (the author of Rooted in Design and the plant director of Glasswing Greenhouse) will discuss the normal life cycle of plants and delineate between healthy and unhealthy leaf loss. 

MUSIC

Flogging Molly Past Event Like List
"For the past two-plus decades, Flogging Molly have been waving the flag of Celtic punk proudly, touring the world and providing thousands of devoted fans with a night of drunken, sweaty, sing-alongs," wrote former Stranger contributor Kevin Diers. While they're not touring the world at the moment (duh), the seven-piece band will crank up their bodhran, mandolin, accordion, banjo, and tin whistle for a lively online concert on St. Patrick's Day, live from Dublin. Check out the plethora of ticket options for merch bundles.

READINGS & TALKS

Kim Addonizio & Martín Espada Past Event Like List
Poets Kim Addonizio (who work has proved "consistently funny, formally inventive, sexually positive, philosophically complex, and lyrically tight" over the course of her long career, according to The Stranger's Rich Smith) will read from her newest collection, Now We’re Getting Somewhere, alongside Martín Espada, who will also be reading new work from his book Floaters. 

THEATER & PERFORMANCE

Riverdance: 25th Anniversary Show Past Event Like List
Bill Whelan's Irish theatrical dance phenomenon Riverdance, which originated as an interval performance act during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, will kick off Stagescreen's series of online musicals on St. Patrick's Day.

THURSDAY

COMMUNITY

Amir Sheikh | The Waterlines Project Past Event Like List
In an effort to reveal the ancient ghost landscapes of Seattle, whose waterlines echo geologic episodes and political decisions made from the time of the glacial retreat to current development projects, environmental researcher Amir Sheikh led a Burke Museum initiative called Waterlines Project, which now includes an immersive map that chronicles major events and projects that reshaped the city's landscape. Join Sheikh for a virtual presentation hosted by Seward Park Audubon.

The Bosses’ Clubs: Employers Organizing Against Workers, and the Campaigns to Defeat Billy Gohl and the Wobblies Past Event Like List
Historian and author Aaron Goings will fill you in on the story of Billy Gohl (dubbed the Ghoul of Grays Harbor), a labor organizer from Aberdeen arrested for the murder of dozens of sailors and lumber workers. He’ll also delve into the collective union-crushing activity of employers toward working people in the late 19th and early 20th century. 

MUSIC

Celebrate Asia Past Event Like List
You needn't put on a fancy Benaroya Hall outfit to enjoy this year's online edition of Seattle Symphony's annual Celebrate Asia concert, which has celebrated the traditions of Seattle's Asian communities for 13 years now. This one will feature contemporary works by Dai Fujikura, Takashi Yoshimatsu, and Akira Senju, led by guest conductor Keitaro Harada. 

READINGS & TALKS

Margin Shift Presents: Jha, Naganawa, Jackson, and Wong Past Event Like List
This reading series that emphasizes the contributions of anyone who might normally be at the margins of the mainstream literary scene—poets of color, LGBTQ+ poets, poets from out of town, poets who are new to town, women poets, undocumented poets, experimental writers (whatever that might mean!), and brand new writers—will move online. This edition will feature novelist and essayist Sonora Jha, Writers in the Schools resident Arlene Naganawa, Puyallup-based "aspiring writer" Chloe Jackson, and Seattle poet Jane Wong.

Spencer Reece & Kathleen Flenniken Past Event Like List
Poet (and the national secretary for the Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Madrid) Spencer Reece was shortlisted for the National Book Award for his collection The Road to Emmaus. Tonight he'll share his new book, The Secret Gospel of Mark: A Poet's Memoir, along with early copies of his new illustrated book, All the Beauty Still Left: A Poet’s Painted Book of Hours. 

VISUAL ART

Re/frame: In the Forecast Past Event Like List
As the weather shifts from stagnant cold to welcome breaks of early-spring sun, take a look at objects in the Henry's permanent collection that reflect on the climate and reveal what our reactions to rainstorms and warm rays say about us as individuals and as cultures.

FRIDAY

FILM

MLK/FBI Screening and Q&A Past Event Like List
Sam Pollard's "archival tapestry" of a documentary, which follows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as he is investigated and harassed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, will screen online via Langston and SIFF, followed by a live Q&A with the director.

MUSIC

Lori Goldston and Jordan O’Jordan: A Celebration of Very Old Songs Past Event Like List
Prolific cellist Lori Goldston, whose first major appearance was on stage with Nirvana at their MTV Unplugged concert, will play her favorite folk tracks from Very Old Songs, her new LP with singer Jordan O’Jordan. They'll be joined by guests Phil Elverum, Tomo Nakayama, Clyde Petersen, and J.R. Rhodes.

READINGS & TALKS

Luvvie Ajayi Jones: In Conversation Past Event Like List
Nigerian American author Luvvie Ajayi Jones (I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual) will join Seattle Arts and Lectures with her new book, Professional Troublemaker, where she tackles how to handle fear and "audaciously step into lives, careers, and legacies that go beyond even our wildest dreams." She'll be joined in conversation by InStyle beauty writer Kahlana Barfield Brown.

SATURDAY

FILM

Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival 2021 Past Event Like List
SIFF and MoPOP bring you the somewhat less pronounceable acronym SFFSFF. The mini-fest, made digital this year, is composed of nearly two dozen new sci-fi and fantasy short films judged by a nationally assembled jury.

MUSIC

Learn to Swing Dance with Katie & Mark Kihara of Swing It Seattle Past Event Like List
Spend less than an hour of your Saturdays learning to swing dance from Katie and Mark Khara of Swing It Seattle.

Local Digital Tour: The Doubleclicks x Distant Worlds Past Event Like List
The U-District's beloved hangout for caffeinated geeks, RPG players, and sci-fi writers will celebrate its birthday with an in-store cake pop-up, as well as a virtual concert with the dinosaur-loving, banana-suit-wearing, sister duo geek-comedy music duo the Doubleclicks.

Oates Song Fest Past Event Like List
John and Aimee Oates have rounded up their friends Bob Weir, Daryl Hall, Dave Grohl, Sammy Hagar, and others for an online mini-fest benefiting Feeding America.

THIS! Spring Edition Past Event Like List
Viva Recordings will usher you into spring with a night of back-to-back DJ sets with Tony H, Longstocking, Daniel Allen, LGSP, Nichole G, Chad Neiro, Alfonso Tan, and Jon Lemmon. It's free, but the artists appreciate your tips.

READINGS & TALKS

Layla AlAmmar Past Event Like List
Kuwait-born novelist Layla AlAmmar will join Elliott Bay from her home in the UK for a chat on her new book, Silence is a Sense, about a woman who flees to England to escape the civil war in Syria. 

SUNDAY

COMMUNITY

Salvage Exchange- on sustaining Past Event Like List
Salvage Exchange, a companion project to the performance piece Salvage Rituals, which was born from a private ritual to mourn lost friends, investigates sustainability with a focus on mutual aid and "embodiment." They'll partner with On the Boards for a series of online workshops, conversations, and skill shares with their creative team Jeffrey Azevedo, Sophie Franco, Alice Gosti, Alex Harding, Erin McCarthy, Alyza DelPan-Monley, Stefan Richmond, and Tim Smith-Stewart.

FESTIVALS

Seattle Center Festál: Seattle’s French Fest Past Event Like List
France isn't the only country that speaks French—this festival celebrates the cultures of the places around the world where the language is spoken, from Senegal to Belgium to Canada (and yes, Paris). Expect live music, food demos, kids' activities, and more.

READINGS & TALKS

Jourdan Imani Keith Presents 'Womxn & Whales First, Poetry In A Climate Of Change' Past Event Like List
Seattle Civic Poet Jourdan Imani Keith and six other poets will read work that shows how "protecting endangered womxn will protect endangered whales."

MULTI-DAY

FESTIVALS

SXSW Online Past Event Like List
Austin's massive annual arts and music festival will hold some reduced capacity in-person events this year, but those who don't live in Texas can experience it online with keynotes, conference sessions, livestreamed concerts, screenings of features from its film festival, comedy shows, art exhibitions, and more. There's only one pass option for the entire event, but they do offer group and student discounts for slightly cheaper rates.
(Tuesday-Saturday)

FILM

ByDesign Festival 2021 Past Event Like List
As Charles Mudede has written, "One of the richest institutional collaborations in this city is that between the ByDesign Festival and Northwest Film Forum. Here, two arts that are very similar, film and architecture (both are capital intensive), meet in the theater." For the second time, this festival will be online only, which means you can watch films about urban design and architecture, hear from guest artists, take workshops, and more from home.
(Friday-Sunday)

Seattle Jewish Film Festival Past Event Like List
This annual film festival, which is already primed in the art of virtual programming thanks to last year's event also getting canceled due to COVID, explores and celebrates global Jewish and Israeli life, history, complexity, culture, and filmmaking. It showcases international, independent, and award-winning Jewish-themed and Israeli cinema, and the audience votes on their favorites. This year's festival kicks off on a lighthearted note with the documentary Howie Mandel: But, Enough About Me, featuring a post-screening appearance from the comedian Howel Mandel himself.
(Monday-Thursday)

FOOD & DRINK

Taste Washington Past Event Like List
Billing itself as "the nation's largest single-region wine and food event," Taste Washington will get even larger this year by filling out the entire month of March (instead of its usual five days). Rather than in-person tastings, though, they'll offer weekly kits that you can enjoy at home, as well as recipes you can make on your own.
(All week)

MUSIC

Emerald City Music presents The Calidore String Quartet Past Event Like List
The Calidore String Quartet will play two works by Robert Schumann and Dmitri Shostakovich, as performed on their latest album, Babel.
(Monday-Thursday)

PERFORMANCE

Don Giovanni Past Event Like List
Mozart's opera about (spoiler alert!) a libertine who gets dragged into hell by a statue will be revived by Seattle Opera for the digital stage.
(Friday-Sunday)

The Great Inconvenience Past Event Like List
Thirty years in the future, somewhere on the West Coast, a scrappy group of historical reenactors—orphans of the country's next civil war—have formed a chosen family. When an unexpected visitor starts camping out in their dioramas, portending a new and growing danger, they’re forced to face their own histories.
(All week)

The Intermission Project Past Event Like List
For his Pacific Northwest Ballet debut, Indiana-bred soloist and choreographer Price Suddarth will present three acts (nine works in total) in one performance, available on PNB's Facebook and YouTube channels.
(All week)